Monday, December 15, 2008

. . . And It (really) Appeared!

by Kate Collins

You know that saying about having a question and the answer will appear, or needing help and the right person will appear? (I searched the web for the exact quote, but couldn't find it. Any help would be appreciated).

Anywho . . . it happened to me yesterday.

Here's the set-up. I'm a third of the way through my current mystery, (#9 in the Flower Shop series, if you're keeping track) and I ran into an obstacle that kept me from finishing a crucial scene. In this scene, my sleuth's niece is kidnapped while attending a boy band concert, so the cops bring in the search dogs. Okay. Great. Then what?

I know how it works on TV, but not in real life. I tried writing it with my limited knowledge, then I wrote around the scene, but neither worked. By yesterday afternoon, I was in a panic. I knew I'd have to find a source ASAP, because I was so behind in my page count, with a deadline approaching. On top of that, holiday stuff kept coming up, further delaying me. In fact, we were due to attend a party that night.

Here comes the awesome part: While at said party, I was introduced to the host's son, serving as our bartender that evening. Turns out he had just left the sheriff's department, where he was – TA DA – a K-9 officer. I nearly fell over. There was my answer -- tall, handsome, and very willing to help me get that scene right. I couldn't believe my good fortune. It was cosmic. It was serendipitous! And now I can write the scene correctly, then move forward.

Has anything like that ever happened to you? Is that saying true? (And what IS that saying, anyway?)